Silvina del Carmen, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

I study cell surface receptors that activate or inhibit the immune response. Particularly, I am interested in how novel splice isoforms of these regulators, participate in autoimmune disorders, such us SLE. Understanding these mechanisms can help identify new diagnostic biomarkers and/or new immune therapeutic targets for lupus patients.

About Silvina del Carmen, Ph.D.

I did my Ph.D. studies in Argentina working with probiotic lactic acid bacteria and their potential use for IBD treatment. These initial studies awakened my curiosity for basic immunology. I decided to do my first postdoc in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale University, where I studied how coagulation interacts with the innate immune response. Understanding how the immune system needs to be tightly regulated in order to efficiently prevent infections while avoiding uncontrolled responses (such as those that happen in autoimmune disorders) is still my main focus of interest. Hence, at Jackson, my studies involve the use of computational analysis of immune cells of lupus patients.

Besides research, I am interested in mentoring and education, and how we can improve these experiences for both mentors and mentees.

Selected Publications

Highlighted Abstract

Reactive oxygen species are involved in various aspects of intestinal inflammation and tumor development. Decreasing their levels using antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase (CAT) or superoxide dismutase (SOD) could therefore be useful in the prevention of certain diseases. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are ideal candidates to deliver these enzymes in the gut. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effects of CAT or SOD producing LAB were evaluated using a trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) induced Crohn's disease murine model. Engineered Lactobacillus casei BL23 strains producing either CAT or SOD, or the native strain were given to mice before and after intrarectal administration of TNBS. Animal survival, live weight, intestinal morphology and histology, enzymatic activities, microbial translocation to the liver and cytokines released in the intestinal fluid were evaluated. The mice that received CAT or SOD-producing LAB showed a faster recovery of initial weight loss, increased enzymatic activities in the gut and lesser extent of intestinal inflammation compared to animals that received the wild-type strain or those that did not receive bacterial supplementation. Our findings suggest that genetically engineered LAB that produce antioxidant enzymes could be used to prevent or decrease the severity of certain intestinal pathologies.